


into another light

by CivilWhere



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: M/M, solar eclipse, very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 00:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19983214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CivilWhere/pseuds/CivilWhere
Summary: Quentin wants to go see the solar eclipse. Eliot is not too hard persuaded.





	into another light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rochellena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochellena/gifts).



They drive two and a half hours in a rental car to get to the path of totality. They're already in the area, sort of, tracking down a scroll that Alice needs, and Quentin makes the case as soon as they've wrapped that up.

"We could just ask Penny to take us there," Eliot points out. 

"It's part of the experience. I want car snacks and singing along to the radio at the top of our lungs and the whole wind in my hair thing." 

Eliot is skeptical, particularly at the singing along part. 

"Plus," Quentin adds, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of Eliot's slacks and pulling him closer, "it's hot when you drive." 

And, well, how can he say no to that?

So they rent an economy sedan that gets upgraded to a sleek little convertible free of charge thanks to a little probability magic and drive to a small town just far enough inside of the path the day before the solar eclipse. 

The hotel they book a room at is nearly empty, and Hala, the small woman behind the counter, wants to hear all about their plans for the eclipse. When they tell her they haven't really planned anything beyond coming here and picking up some gaudy cardboard-framed solar filter glasses along the way, she insists on giving them the key to the old graveyard across the street.

"It's a big hill, clear of the trees. Best view you'll get around here." She pats Quentin's hand. "And besides, you'll have the whole thing to yourselves. No crowds like over in the highlands," she adds with a conspiratorial tone, like this whole place is a secret just for them. 

By the time they've got their stuff in the room and are hungry for dinner, nothing is open, not even a convenience store. Quentin goes to the old vending machine they'd seen on their way to the room and comes back with an armful of off brand chips and candy bars and a few bottles of water. They spread their feast out on the bed they won't be sleeping in and sit cross-legged with the bounty between them. 

"Have you ever seen one?" Eliot asks, plucking a chip delicately from its foil packet. 

"A solar eclipse? There was one when I was in elementary school, but I don't remember it. I just remember being really excited and making those pinhole box things." He stretches his hand out for the bag Eliot is holding, even though there are several others he could choose from. "You?"

Eliot rolls his eyes but passes over the chips anyway. "No. People talked about that one, but I never got to see it. Indiana public school wasn't big on," he gestures vaguely, "science." 

"Thanks for doing this with me," Quentin says, in that earnest tone he uses when he talks about the things he loves shamelessly, without being afraid of what other people think. That the eclipse isn't the only reason he sounds like that is not lost on Eliot. 

"Yeah. I'm glad we're here," he answers, and he finds he means it. 

They curl up together in the other bed, between soft and wash-worn sheets, and Eliot falls asleep to the sounds of the rattling air conditioner and Quentin's steady breathing. 

The next morning, they head to the town grocery for picnic supplies. 

Eliot has plans for brie and freshly baked bread and local honey and strawberries. They end up with a loaf of pre-sliced white bread, ham and cheese, and a bright yellow bottle of mustard. They do find strawberries, delivered just that morning from a farm down the road. Eliot buys two cartons of them and a screwtop bottle of scuppernong wine and calls it a relative victory. 

After a brief stop to assemble sandwiches and wash strawberries and collect the spare bed's duvet (with Hala's permission), they head over to the graveyard. It's a short walk to the small gate that Quentin unlocks with the heavy iron key, and then a steep climb up the hill. The headstones are all clearly old, weathered and worn and mossy in places, and the grass is fairly overgrown. It feels peaceful, and private, and the sky is clear above them. 

They spread their blanket out and wait. 

Some time after an entire carton of strawberries has been consumed (a number of which Eliot insisted on hand feeding to Quentin) and they've worked through half of the bottle of wine (which is sticky sweet and which Quentin, unsurprisingly, _loves_ ), the first hint of the moon's shadow starts to cut into the sun. 

Quentin has been checking through the solar filter glasses every few minutes since the official start time, and he excitedly shakes Eliot's arm without looking away. 

"Put them on! Look! It's starting!" 

Eliot considers the gaudy orange and purple glasses and sighs, sliding them on. "Only for you, Q." 

"Huh?" Quentin asks, not looking away from the sky.

"Nothing, sweetheart," Eliot assures him, looking through the darkness of the filter until he finds the sun. There's a crescent shaped divot in its side, as if someone had scooped a bite out of it with a spoon. 

Over the course of the next hour, they alternate between putting their glasses on and staring up at the shrinking sun and lazing about, killing off the wine and talking about nothing. Quentin is stretched diagonally across the blanket with his shoulders and head resting on Eliot's torso. Eliot has one arm pillowed behind his head and the other draped across Quentin's chest, and he's contemplating setting in on the next carton of strawberries when the light starts to noticeably shift. 

The birds and bugs grow quiet and the sky turns an eerie tone. Shadows become sharper, throwing everything into high contrast. Quentin sits up and looks around in fascinated silence. 

There's something profound in that, Eliot thinks, in watching this man who has seen magic and other worlds and gods and monsters, but who is still so taken by a natural event. Or maybe Eliot is just half-tipsy on overly sweet wine and very much in love. 

"We're getting close," Quentin tells him as Eliot pushes himself up to sit beside him.

They put their filters back on and watch as the moon's umbral shadow swallows the sun. "We're about to hit totality," Quentin whispers. "You can look without the filter… now." 

Eliot takes off his glasses and looks up at the gossamer cornea of light around the black circle that is now the sun. It's strange and mesmerizing and unlike anything he could have imagined before now. He understands why people once feared this, but right now, sitting in the numinous near-darkness under the full solar eclipse, he reaches for Quentin's hand, and all he feels is peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Written to help support of Jason Ralph's Covenant House International Sleep Out Fundraiser. Check out @Drabbles4Jason on Twitter to see how you can get one of your own. Thank you to Rochellena for being part of a great cause!
> 
> The title is from Another Light by Henry Green. The language in the summary is a nod to Summons by Robert Francis.
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr](https://wanderingmargo.tumblr.com/). Thank you for reading!


End file.
